The latest Instagram story from Freedom Princess Canada shows a woman dressed like Frozen’s Elsa being crowned.
“Wear a crown, not a mask, and be the ruler of your own life,” the caption read. [Spoiler alert: Elsa renounces the crown at the end of Frozen 2.]
“What can you do to spread some pixie dust in your life?” reads another post under an image of the same woman, now dressed as Tinkerbell. “Kindly say NO when people ask you to cover your beautiful face with a mask.”
Yet another post shows the woman dressed as Cinderella and a caption telling children what to do when asked to wear masks and socially distance.
“We need to have the courage to tell others that this is NOT OKAY,” the caption says. “We need to keep our friends and family close, not far away from us, even if that means speaking up against restrictions that our teachers and leaders are imposing on us.”
Freedom Princess is a new anti-mask project featuring professional princess cosplayer Mary-Jean Harris creating videos of herself dressed up as characters, made famous by Disney, who espouse anti-mask rhetoric. (Harris stresses her characters are fairytale characters, not Disney characters.) The anti-mask community, as well as other conspiracy movements, have long been crying “save the children!” in their outreach efforts, but typically it’s an emotionally manipulative way of recruiting adults. Direct attempts to convert children to these conspiracies have been far rarer.
A person responding by email from the Freedom Princess account, who also did not identify themselves, said COVID-19 exists but wants to encourage kids to “think for themselves and stand up for what they believe in.” In particular, they want kids to “not take what the media says at face value, since the promotion of mandatory masks and excessive social distancing has been significantly harming them and their families.” The person told VICE they’re “not trying to reach children directly” but instead hope that parents will share Freedom Princess videos with their children.